Engaging Native Alaskan Students and their Community in Local Hot Springs Research

让阿拉斯加原住民学生及其社区参与当地温泉研究

• 批准号: 0808211
• 负责人: Sherry Cady
• 金额: $ 14.36万
• 依托单位: Portland State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-09-01 至 2011-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0808211&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Engaging; Native; Alaskan; Students; their

Geoscientists, educators, and pre-service K-12 teaching students at Portland State University will collaborate with Southeast Alaska Native high school students, their teachers, tribal elders, and local government and business leaders to develop a series of innovative high school geoscience curriculum modules around the study of local hot spring ecosystems. The curricula will engage the students through hands on field- and laboratory-based experiences that build upon their cultural knowledge of, and experiences with, this type of local natural resource. The inclusion of community members in this inquiry-based research project and curricular development is key to motivating students to learn about geoscience-related concepts and issues. Traditional Native Alaskan knowledge encompasses an understanding of a geological setting as a habitat occupied by ecological communities that provide a number of agricultural, natural resource, and medicinal opportunities. In hot springs, microbial communities may alter their surroundings, enhance fishery resources, and concentrate mineral resources. The remains of these communities - when preserved in hot spring sinter deposits - can record a history of bacteria, plant and animal species associated with them. Hot spring mineral deposits have been used in a variety of ceremonial ways by indigenous communities, and their medicinal use has not been recorded. A major project goal is to present an opportunity for interdisciplinary study of a relatively simple (extreme and mineralizing) ecosystem that will pique the interest of these high-school students in teaching and research careers in the geosciences and help preserve a scientific and culturally important natural resource for Native Alaskan tribal communities.

波特兰州立大学的地球科学家、教育工作者和预科 K-12 教学学生将与阿拉斯加东南部原住民高中学生、他们的老师、部落长老以及当地政府和商界领袖合作，开发一系列创新的高中地球科学课程模块围绕当地温泉生态系统的研究。该课程将通过实地和实验室的实践经验吸引学生，这些经验建立在他们对此类当地自然资源的文化知识和经验的基础上。将社区成员纳入这个基于探究的研究项目和课程开发是激励学生学习与地球科学相关的概念和问题的关键。阿拉斯加原住民的传统知识包括对地质环境的理解，即生态群落占据的栖息地，提供许多农业、自然资源和医药机会。在温泉中，微生物群落可能会改变周围环境，增强渔业资源并集中矿产资源。这些群落的遗骸——当保存在温泉烧结沉积物中时——可以记录与其相关的细菌、植物和动物物种的历史。温泉矿藏已被土著社区以各种仪式方式使用，但其药用用途尚未有记录。一个主要项目目标是提供一个对相对简单（极端和矿化）生态系统进行跨学科研究的机会，这将激发这些高中生对地球科学教学和研究职业的兴趣，并有助于保护具有科学和文化重要意义的自然生态系统。阿拉斯加原住民部落社区的资源。